It is an honor to open this year’s University of Toledo Authors and
Artists exhibit, which celebrates what to me is the greatest strength of the
University of Toledo – its synthesis of scholarship and teaching.
University education differs from primary and secondary education in an
important way. Higher Education has its
roots in the Renaissance Universities, where students acquired knowledge by
direct interaction with a Learned Master. In primary and secondary
education the framework and content of the curriculum is specified by an
outside authority, such as a State or local
Board of Education or a Legislature.
Thus the task of the teacher is to convey information in a wide variety
of different subjects
as it has been officially prescribed.
In contrast, we in higher education are very narrowly
and deeply specialized, and are entrusted with both the prescription and
the delivery of the latest and best knowledge of our
disciplines. This is epitomized by the
principle of Academic Freedom and
the practice of the Award of Tenure. Thus we are granted the right to use our own
knowledge both to specify the Curriculum
and to teach it.
To insure that we have the opportunity to do this we are also granted
Sabbatical Leaves to provide periodic
renewal and the updating of our knowledge and skills.
These are privileges, but with them come important obligations. We must remain actively involved in our
respective fields,
aware of the latest developments and trends. The traditional terminal
academic degree is awarded not because one has
acquired a specific body of static knowledge, but
because the individual has demonstrated the ability to pursue a scholarly
thesis to its ultimate conclusion, and possesses the potential to continue
that process throughout an entire professional life.
Thus our academic charge implicitly includes our own scholarly studies
that contribute to the knowledge of our discipline,
with the publication of scholarly articles, books, artistic presentations,
or other pursuits specific to our field of endeavor. It
also involves participation in and the arranging of Conferences,
Symposia, Colloquia, and other meetings with our colleagues.
We must serve as peer reviewers and referees for the research articles
of others, and some will serve as Editors or Members of
the Editorial Boards of our learned journals, and others will sit on
artistic juries. If we are really doing
our jobs, the time we
spend preparing for and delivering our courses should be only a fraction
of the time it takes us to keep these courses current
and dynamic.
There are great temptations to deviate from these principles. Many large universities have two faculties:
a research faculty that
is seldom seen by students, and a teaching faculty that has little
opportunity for scholarship. At small universities constraints
often force the faculty to be almost exclusively engaged in teaching. At the University of Toledo we have an ideal
situation in
which nearly all of our researchers teach, and nearly all of our
teachers do research. Over the years
that I have been associated
with the University of Toledo, our graduate programs have consistently
been developed to enable us to attract prestigious
scholars who also teach entry levels courses, and not to replace our
scholar-teachers with TA’s.
It is my hope is that that the University of Toledo will always maintain
this synergetic relationship between scholarship and
teaching, encouraging and nurturing research that has a strong scholarly
content, and insisting that our researchers are also
our direct resource to our students.
Today we celebrate the fact that our faculty is a vibrant community of
scholars, expert in and contributing to the evolving
knowledge. The joy of discovery
and learning is its own reward, as is the excitement of conveying both our joy
and our
knowledge to our students. Nonetheless, it is a pleasure to congratulate
you on your accomplishments and to wish you
continued success.
Larry J. Curtis
Distinguished University Professor of Physics and Astronomy